"B'ar meat."
"Are there bears in these mountains?"
"Yes; my son killed this one. He's killed many a b'ar, Dan has. He's a master hand with the rifle. There's none that can beat him."
"Isn't it dangerous to tackle a bear?"
"No; the b'ars a nat'rally timorous animal. I've killed more'n one myself."
As Dean surveyed his hostess, he thought her quite capable of encountering a bear. Her walk and air were masculine, and there seemed nothing feminine about her.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DAN.
Dean did not allow his speculations as to his hostess to interfere with his appetite, but he ate with an enjoyment which he had seldom before felt the food set before him.